A lot of it is that mindset that preparedness, just being conscious of what we put out into the world has to go somewhere and what we buy and what we use, it's coming from somewhere, and it has to end up somewhere. So just really being conscious, being aware and making changes where we can.
In an era of global trade in nearly limitless products which can be delivered to your door within days, it might not be apparent what the local impact of our consumerism might be. Advocates for a more sustainable way of life ask us to think before we buy. I'm Steve fast. Welcome to random acts of knowledge presented by Heartland Community College. Today, we're talking about conscious consumerism. It's a mindset that might be motivated by anything from a concern for the environment, to a simple desire to save a few bucks. Let's meet our expert.
My name is Ashley Singh. And besides guest lecturing here at Heartland from time to time, I'm also a communications strategist and consultant and a copywriter. So basically, that means I help small businesses and nonprofits find their message, share their message, and really nail down the words that are going to help them grow.
So when you guess, lecture at Heartland, what do you talk about? I have done
one, eco crafting, sort of understanding upcycle culture class, and the newest class that we're going to take on together is called conscious consumerism.
Let's talk a little bit about conscious consumerism in a broad sense, what does that mean?
For me, it really just means being aware of not only what you're buying, but also where the products are coming from, and what sort of impact that has, as you're using it. And once you've used it, because we all have to buy things, no matter how much we want to avoid it, we all have to and sometimes it can be a real pleasure. And sometimes you can really support causes that you care about. So I think it's important to be informed, conscious consumers.
So how hard is that to be eco conscious? I think a lot of us when we buy things, and we have products, we don't necessarily think about where they come from. And we probably don't think about the life of them. Maybe if you have tires or something you think I'm gonna have these for X amount of years. But beyond that, we probably don't think about what the overall impact is of things we buy.
Yeah, I think it's really difficult. I think the word conscious is really important because you have to make an active effort to be conscious that the entire burden is on the consumer, especially in the US industries are not regulated, because that's how our government has set it up to be and there are some definite pros and cons to that. And so the burden is with the consumer to do research. Is this healthy for me just because this says green? Or just because this says that it's a great deal? Is it? Where's this coming from? Who made this? What are the ingredients? And what is that doing to your body to your health to the environment? What are you going to do with the product? After you're done with it?
What are the reasons to be a conscious consumer? Is it just because you're concerned about the world and your impact and your footprint? Or are there other reasons as well?
What I think is great about the whole conscious consumerism movement is that you get to decide what's important to you, you can decide if health is important, you can decide if ethics is important if Fairtrade if organic, or whatever cause speaks to you don't have to be a recycling freak to be a conscious consumer, you can buy really high end well made, dresses and shoes and soaps and whatever you need to buy, you get to choose what's important to you, and the types of brands that you support. So what I like is that each person can make individual changes that not only impact their lives, their family lives, but also the entire world around them. Every time you buy something, you're voting with your dollar, you're supporting some sort of cause you're supporting a business. So even if you're not involved in politics, even if you have no idea what's going on in the world, you get to decide what you bring into your life. And I think that's important.
I think the one thing that people most likely participate in as far as conscious consumerism, almost just because of policy in most places, is how they deal with things that might go into your landfill. So you have this choice whether to recycle or not recycle, but even when what you buy and what goes into recycling, and what you buy that goes into landfill is a choice that most people are making right away that they can connect with. Can you talk a little bit about the impact of consumerism on something simple like a landfill? I think it's kind of easy to grasp. The idea of there is a big hole. People are putting a bunch of stuff in that hole and it's going to fill up sooner or later.
Yeah, and I'm fairly certain In McLean County, the big hole of the landfill has overflowed, or it will very, very soon. And so we have to find solutions for that. So recycling is definitely one option. But also reducing is an option, just don't buy it to begin with, do you need five white t shirts that you're just going to throw away after you wear them once? Probably not. If you can't recycle it, or you don't want to recycle it, can you pay it forward? Can you find a resource in town that's doing social good through the items that you have like the Bloomington restore, like the mission mark, with Homeschool mission, there are so many resources in town, there's the really, really free market where it's literally a garage sale that's completely free drop off an item or 10. There are swaps around town, there are Facebook groups, there are so many options. So you can reduce, you can recycle, you can pay it forward, you can sell things, there are so many ways that you can prevent things from ending up in the landfill.
I think that that can even start at the beginning of it. So if you are trying to be a more conscious consumer about what you buy, some things are going to be in the landfill for 1000 years, and some things are not going to be they'll degrade. What should you know about the product that you're buying? If you're thinking about the lifetime of that and how it's going to impact your community, and how it can be reused or upcycled, or whatever. Any product in particular, I don't know if some are more harmful than others. But what are the things that people should be thinking about? When they're thinking about making a purchase?
There are so many factors. One, if you really want to get into the weeds is sourcing, where are these ingredients coming from? Palm oil in food is really a hot topic because it's led to a lot of deforestation. And theoretically, there are ethical sources of palm oil. But if you don't want to deep dive into like the exact source, maybe just avoid it and your products, things like clothing. Who's making these clothes? Are they getting a fair wage? There are so many resources online that you can look up brands that other people have researched whether or not these are ethical things like packaging, especially for food. But even for household items. Is there a glass alternative? Or an aluminum can alternative to this plastic? Can you buy it in bulk? Do you need to buy your oatmeal in a plastic bag? Or can you go to the bulk section, bring your own bag or jar and put it in there, a lot of times you save money by doing bolt, there are so many other factors. And again, you get to choose what's important to you, you can sort of go gung ho and care about it all and do what you can also, the idea of buying secondhand, any item around the house, clothes, especially anything that you need, someone probably has it and wants to get rid of it. Sometimes people will just give stuff away for free on Facebook groups, or like I mentioned that really, really free market. Or you can get things at a really affordable price that are brand new with tags in the original packaging. And that way you're saving that person from contributing their waste, they're sort of able to pay it forward in the world.
You mentioned glass versus plastic versus aluminum. For many people, they probably think all those things are equally recyclable. But that's probably not the case.
No. So as I understand it, I am not a material scientist. But as I understand it, glass is pretty much has a lifetime of recycling in it. When it's recycled. It's just recycled into the same material. Whereas plastic is only ever downgraded. So they can only recycle thicker plastics to begin with. And then it's degraded into a lesser quality plastic until it will not be able to be recycled anymore. So I just found out and it was heart crushing. But like the clamshell plastic containers that like berries are sold in for example, even though that number is theoretically recyclable, we cannot recycle it in our county anymore, because there's no market for it. So either buy those berries in bulk, or don't buy them or just sort of suck it up that's adding to your waste history. And that's all you can do about it, you sort of just have to make that choice. And it's really hard to stay on top of what is still recyclable, what is not. And that's why I say just sort of avoid it to begin with if you can buy things that either you know can be recycled like glass like metal or try to avoid it to begin with.
When it comes to consumers making choices. Even if they have the best intentions. Sometimes it can really be a little bit of a burden to adjust to. And one of those things has to do with food. So a lot of the things that concern people about pesticides, herbicides, the way that food is processed, the way that food comes to market can make it really cheap. So when you go for instance to buy some berries, the same berries you're talking about that you could get at a big box store for $1 You're going to pay three $4 for the same amount of berries at the farmers market, that can be an adjustment for people that are trying to maintain their grocery budget. Are there hidden costs in the cheap things
with food, if you're buying cheaper, lesser quality food, are you going to have higher health expenses, are you going to have longer term issues that you're going to have to deal with later, even though you saved a couple of bucks. Now, I will say for food, there's a clean 15 list that apparently has the lowest amount of pesticides. And so those are theoretically safe for you to buy non organic. So that's a great way to save money. And even things like clothing, you can invest in one to five really ethical high quality last few for years items or clothing. Or you can go to forever 21 or Walmart and buy a two $3 shirt that you're going to have to repurchase every month, every six months. So it's really a question of finding the balance that works for you and your household and making those small changes every single day, that work for you and your budget, I think price and privilege definitely have a role in anything eco conscious, anything ethical, because sometimes if you're just working to meet ends meet, do you have time to sit and research every single product that comes through your door? Maybe not. So that's why it's nice to be able to find resources that sort of do that research for you. And I will say that sometimes making the more conscious or ethical, Safer Choice is actually less expensive, things like buying in bulk can actually even for a tiny, tiny inconvenience, although once you get used to it, it's really normal, they can save you a ton of money in the long run. So I think it's really just finding that happy medium for you. And making those adjustments where you can, for example, we've cut out paper towels, and other sort of disposable products in our household, we don't use Ziploc bags or anything like that. So we bought silicone bags that will last I don't know probably 10 years, and they were probably kind of $5 each or something like that. So we never have to replenish that ziplock bag stock. We just wash our washcloth and rags and things like that, instead of going through rolls and rolls and rolls of paper towels. So a lot of these choices are super simple once you make the switch, and it saves you a ton of money in the long run is a lot of it just about
the mindset, you mentioned that lifetime cost of something, there are a lot of cheap products that are cheap, and they're disposable because you wouldn't buy them every week or every other week if they weren't cheap. And if you extrapolate that over the lifetime of a product, it probably is more cost effective. But we don't think that way. So how much about the practical use of items is really just a mindset switch?
I think so much of it. And again, it's finding those solutions that work for you. Do you need the disposable razors? Or can you invest one time upfront, maybe five times the cost, but that'll make that gets money. So so quickly? I think that's the idea of conscious consumerism is just that mindset. It's the idea of, Can I roll up some silverware from my kitchen as I go and not have to use the disposable fork and knife if I happen to stop by at a restaurant to pick up some food? Or can I pack an apple with me so I don't have to hit the drive thru and just have tons and tons of food waste as I roll through. A lot of it is that mindset that preparedness, just being conscious of what we put out into the world has to go somewhere and what we buy and what we use, it's coming from somewhere and it has to end up somewhere. So just really being conscious, being aware and making changes where we can,
it does seem that there are a lot of things to think about. And for some having the burden of worrying about all that stuff might be a little bit too much. So what would you say to someone that wants to live a more conscious life as a consumer but might feel overwhelmed by all this think there's too many rules too many things to worry about. They might become paralyzed by that. What kind of encouragement would you give for somebody to take some simple or easy steps to just start changing that mindset
analysis paralysis is very real, or you get down that rabbit hole and you're just like the world cannot be saved. So I think first of all, just choose one thing at a time. It will definitely have a snowball effect in your life or honestly even if it doesn't, at least you made that one choice. plastic straws are a hot topic right now. If you put out I don't know 30 less plastic straws into this world at least are 30 less plastic straws, right? So if you want to cut out paper towels in your home, cut out paper towels and if you make no other decisions in your life around this sort of lifestyle then That's fine, at least he made that one choice. So start small and build from there if it feels comfortable. But then also, I think one of the easiest and most accessible things we can do is shopping secondhand. So not only for clothes, and it doesn't have to be sort of like weeding through a thrift store with other people's, I don't know, it takes a certain person who likes to go thrifting I love it. But a lot of people are just like it's too messy. Or sometimes it smells weird. And there are so many ways to sort of shop luxury, secondhand, there are Facebook groups, there's Poshmark, there's thread up, there are so many websites and apps where you can get exactly the model and size and color and brand you're looking for. And that's so much more sustainable than just going to the store and picking it up new. So shopping secondhand and just making those tiny, tiny one step at a time choices will make a huge impact, especially if we all do it.
Let's talk a little bit about upcycling and recycling. You mentioned earlier that one of the things that you do is you have an eco crafting class, what are some of the projects that you teach people to work on and some of the things that one might not necessarily think of as upcycle herbal goods? Sure, so
in the class itself, it's sort of trash to treasure. So it's really whatever comes out of the students minds, they're using things like old CDs, and random string and just miscellaneous materials. And it's really fun to see this sort of beautiful projects that they come up with. But then in this sort of lecture portion of that, we talk about making a little, little tiny Zero Waste kit for you, if you'd like to so you can find some scrap fabric, you can sew up a little rolled up silverware kit, put some chopsticks in there, or make yourself a cute little napkin that you can carry with you everywhere you go. Or a little reusable bag that rolls up. And no matter where you are, whether you're picking up some clothes or picking up some groceries or whatever you need a bag for you already have a bag with you. So there are lots of little ways that you can upcycle things and then obviously the sort of standard eco conscious thing is like reusing jars. So if you have a spaghetti jar, you can use that for so many things. But what I like about being a conscious consumer is not having to be super crunchy granola II if you don't want to, you can live a really luxurious, sustainable lifestyle if you want to if you have that money. You don't have to drink out of mason jars to be eco friendly, you can have a normal glass, and it's still just as sustainable because it's reusable. So you really get to choose what products you want to use, what types of brands you want to support, and it can really fit whatever vibe and lifestyle you have. It doesn't have to look like anyone else's.
Ashley thanks so much for coming in today and talking about conscious consumerism. Yeah, thank
you so much for having me.
Ashley saying teaches consumer consciousness and eco friendly crafting to adults and young people in Heartland Community College continuing education programs. For more random acts of knowledge including episodes on arts, culture, history, science, health and more. subscribe via iTunes audio boom Spotify or visit Heartland att.edu/random. Thanks for listening
